With so many star-studded revivals on Broadway this season, it's sort of hard to keep up with all the names above the titles. But the one I was looking forward to the most was Blithe Spirit, and fortunately the production did not disappoint. In fact, I'm hoping to see it again at my earliest opportunity.
Blithe Spirit the play is quintessential Noel Coward: dry as a good martini, and oh so terribly droll. The play was made into a so-so musical called High Spirits in the early '60s. The score, by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, has a few memorable songs, including "You'd Better Love Me" and "Faster Than Sound," but on the whole it's a pretty middling affair, despite Coward himself at the helm as director.
The casting for the current production of the non-musical version is letter-perfect. Madame Arcati is a role Angela Lansbury was born to play, and play it she does with a spirited playfulness, and spot-on comedic timing. And Rupert Everett makes for a charming, frazzled, and impish Charles Condomine. Rupert has a very natural presence on stage, but also a WASP-ish sexiness, sort of like a latter day Cary Grant. [Insert gay joke here.]
Christine Ebersole has the requisite ethereal quality, as well as the pouty petulance, that the role of Elvira calls for. I heard someone remark that she doesn't even try to do an English accent, but I didn't really have a problem with that. I mean, Charles certainly could have married an American as his first wife. Jayne Atkinson as Charles's second wife took a bit of getting used to. At first, I couldn't really see what Charles would see in this woman, but then when we meet up with Elvira, it becomes clear that he was looking for someone less flighty, more dependable. Atkinson was a bit shrill during the fight scenes, but that's really more a function of the writing and the direction. The Ruth character exhibits a sort of George Bailey quality: despite mounting evidence of the supernatural, she remains obdurate and obtuse.
Director Michael Blakemore keeps the whole business moving at an engaging pace, and gives his actors just enough business to keep the action in motion. And some of his staging choices are downright inspired.
In related news, Christine Ebersole will record a companion CD to the show featuring the Noel Coward songs that she sings during the scene transitions. The CD will include such Coward classics as "I'll See You Again," "Someday I'll Find You," and "You Were There." Interestingly, the CD will not include "Always," an Irving Berlin song that plays a prominent role in the plot of the show. Apparently they want to focus the recording exclusively on Noel Coward. An understandable choice, but I would love to have a recording of Christine singing that gorgeous Berlin song.
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